Great Tales Never End, The: Essays in Memory of Christopher Tolkien

(Hardback)

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Description

Over more than four decades J.R.R. Tolkiens son and literary executor, Christopher Tolkien, published some twenty-four volumes of his fathers work, much more than his father had succeeded in publishing during his own lifetime. Standing on the mountain of his sons colossal publishing effort and extraordinary scholarship, readers today are therefore able to survey and understand the vastness of the landscape of Tolkiens legendarium.

This collection of essays by world-renowned scholars, together with family reminiscences, sheds new light on J.R.R. Tolkiens work, his son Christophers unique gifts in communicating and interpreting that work and the debt owed to Christopher by the many Tolkien scholars who were privileged to work with him. What was Tolkiens intended ending for The Lord of the Rings Did it leave echoes in the stripped-down version that was actually published What was the audiences response to the first ever adaptation of The Lord of the Rings a radio dramatization that has now been deleted forever from the BBCs archives What was the significance of the extraordinary array of doorways which confronted the hobbits as they journeyed through Middle-earth

The book is illustrated with colour reproductions of J.R.R. Tolkiens manuscripts, maps, drawings and letters and, with the kind permission of his estate, photographs of Christopher Tolkien and extracts from his works, some of which have never been seen before, making this volume essential reading for Tolkien scholars, readers and fans.

Reviews

"Christopher Tolkien (1924-2020) prepared The Silmarillion for its publication 45 years ago, following that essential book with over 20 books of the greatest interest to scholars and enthusiasts for Middle-earth and the Elder Days. The present book gathers new papers from top Tolkien experts, in Christopher's honor."-- "The Bulletin of the New York C.S. Lewis Society"

Author Bio

Richard Ovenden OBE is Bodleys Librarian. Catherine McIlwaine is the Tolkien Archivist at the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.